Gold
by Mugen7
Summary: Soft, warm, and radiant. A treasure who's value should have no measure. Some naturally take a shine to it, while others are simply numb. [Blue Compendium].


**BB Random#005**

**Makoto: **

Shiiiiiiine on you craaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy diiiiiamond~!

– **ref: Pink Floyd.**

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**Gold**

**Written by Mugen7**

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A late afternoon. Restful, warm, and to one's liking. The sun began its slow descent, its waning light casting reddish rays through a brilliant sky kissed by a purple haze. Jūbei, Nine, and their daughter Kokonoe were all gathered in their family room, each sat comfortably on a large and luxuriant sofa bed.

"He's a lot bigger than Kokonoe was at this age." said Jūbei sitting near to his wife, clothed in a warm yellow kimono emblazoned with a ghostly fire motif.

"I imagine he'll be bigger overall, Dear." responded Nine, sitting casually against the backrest of the expanded settee in a satiny robe that supplemented her sensuous and elegant bearing.

Opposite her in a pair of light-coloured shorts and a striped long-sleeve beneath a shirt with the wording 'GAME IS LIFE', Kokonoe titled her head.

"... He seems rather dull."

A quiet exhalation of amusement followed the girl's comment, "Fer all you know he'll grow up bein' as smart as ya."

She looked unconvinced. "Doubt it."

Between them, the family looked down at an 8-month-old babe who inhaled slow and deeply as he slept, dressed in a pristine white onesie. For the longest time the boy's father watched him with fascination and a smile, belly gently rubbed by an ebony tail. Jūbei already felt like a proud parent when Kokonoe had been born, enjoying the girl's growth throughout her soon-to-be 9 years of living, but the father's sense of pride became energized further now that he was fortunate to have a second child of his own.

"He's a serious kid," he chuckled, noticing the furrow between his son's eyebrows. "The boy's even got yer scowl, Dear."

Proving his point, the woman pursed her lips and frowned, making the man laugh yet again.

"Don't be like that; it's a compliment."

Kokonoe studied her younger sibling with a scrupulous look. Fair skin with a warm nuance to it, and unlike herself, the child had a pair of facial markings, three lining each cheek. Other than the variation in tone and facial detail that she thought nothing of, there was one blatant feature that had Kokonoe raise an eyebrow in question. "How come he isn't pink?"

Jūbei spared his daughter a glance, finding her question a little absorbing. The beastman presumed the boy would inherit his mother's colour like Kokonoe had, yet was surprised to see the child had deviated from her also. Rather than be met with pink, his son had two cat ears, two tails, and a head of fast-growing sunny, golden blond hair.

"Dunno," he answered, turning to his wife. "Know any relatives who happen' to be blond?"

Nine lightly shook her head with a smooth response, "Not really."

"... Any secret lover I should know of?"

The pink-haired woman's eye narrowed as she made a heated sound expressing her irritation. Even as a joke, she did not take to it well.

Jūbei laughed quietly with an apology before addressing his daughter, "Him bein' different is no trouble at all. Whether he's blond, brunette, white, pink or even blue, the kid's one of ours, yeah?"

Kokonoe gingerly poked her brother's cheek with one of her tails. She didn't have much of an opinion when first learning that there'd be a new addition to the family; the child could be adopted for all she cared and he'd still be acknowledged as one of theirs by the lot. In spite of her lack of interest before his birth, Kokonoe was okay with being an older sister, feeling a whit of pleasure and warmth at the reality of relation to the infant.

"Mm."

Arm across the head of the sofa, fist pressed to her temple, Nine's focus laid firmly rooted on the boy, not once averting it in all the time spent lounging in the family room. As her finger touched reddish-brown marks with a soft caress, the mother of two endured a strong lack of enthusiasm, remoteness antithetical of the more tender and sweetened guise she had on for show. When Kokonoe had been born, it was sheer bliss. The mother doted on her. She cradled her, sang to her, and was filled with an overwhelming, intoxicating desire to burn anyone who so much as threatened Kokonoe. With how tremendously she felt towards the girl, Nine automatically assumed she'd feel the same the way towards her son... But she didn't. She experienced no such urge, not once in the 8 months the child had been around, her fierce brand of maternal instinct failing to flicker in the slightest. No matter how long she watched him, and no matter how often she held him; no matter how many times she fed him, bathed him, and no matter how close they were during the night, Nine... felt nothing.

_I don't... _the woman's train of thought trailed off as the boy began to stir. Lips trembled as a high-pitched moan was let loose, followed by the child opening his mouth to yawn, showcasing milk teeth, top and bottom.

His nose twitched, registering three distinct scents, and instinctively the little boy rolled his mother's way. He sat up, his long and supple golden-furred tails moving behind with a lackadaisical sway, and rubbed his eyes in a rough manner, whimpering. Nine moved without thinking, leaning over to the boy and pulling his hands away from his face.

"Don't fuss so much," she said to the child who wouldn't hold still. "How am I supposed to clear your eyes if you keep fidgeting?"

Although troublesome, she managed to pick and remove the bits of sleep from the restive child's eyes and retake her comfortable setting.

While the last of the cobwebs cleared from his mind, the blond hybrid slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of vertical-slit pupils, and yellow irises bearing a tone identical to Nine's. He blinked, cat eyes lost momentarily in the smooth and glossy fabric of the woman's robe before venturing upward to look at her directly with a bright, piercing gaze.

"What's the matter, boy?" asked Nine with a curious raise of the brow, meeting her son's gaze with her own penetrating stare.

Before the child had a chance to babble, his stomach answered for him in the form of squelching that transitioned into loud rumbling.

"Kid's got a wild appetite." Jūbei commented.

A yellow ear twitched at the sound of his voice. Turning, the child's face lit up with a wealth of cheer, the need for food swiftly forgotten. Jūbei sweated nervously, knowing all too well the look that sprung up on the boy's face.

Smiling brilliantly, yellow eyes sparkled as they zeroed in on the cat-beast, marked cheeks blemished with a rosy pink shade.

_Yer your mother's kid alright_, thought the beastman as the child proceeded to shift onto his front and pose himself like a crouching tiger.

"N-now hold on...!" tails curled up in excitement as the infant purred. "Don'tchu-!" Jūbei was intervened by the child pouncing on him with an impressive launch, knocking him over.

"D-darn, kid...! That's some real power ya got in them legs," he pushed himself up. "Can't even walk an' already yer movin' fast."

Nine managed an easy smile as she watched her husband become less and less able in maintaining his composure, awkwardness seeping in at being heavily stared at by herself and their daughter whilst trying to ward off his yellow assailant. As for the child himself, who pawed and gnawed and clasped tightly onto his father as though he were the most miraculous thing ever, Nine still failed to feel anything.

"C'mon now, kid, lemme go!"

Nine spoke up with a prominent smile, "No need to be embarrassed, Darling." She reached over and affectionately poked him in the cheek. "You can't blame the boy for wanting to shnuggle his adowable daddy. I know _I _would."

Jūbei blushed. "N-Nine, quit it!"

"Now now, Dear, no bellyaching. It isn't manly." the woman replied in a low and teasing tone of voice.

Kokonoe rolled her eyes theatrically and sighed, finding the excessively sweet scene rather off-putting. "Weirdos."

No sooner had she spoken, the young girl felt a palpable sense of unease, mentally cursing herself for uttering a single word as the peppy cub had his sights set on her.

"D-don't even-AH!" Kokonoe exclaimed as she was taken down and glomped by her younger sibling who showed greater enthusiasm towards her than he did for their father. "H-hey! Let go of me!" although determined, the girl failed miserably in her attempt to break free, feeling like a weak beginner with piss-poor stats going up against a high-level boss. "Mum! Dad! Get him oooooooff!"

Jūbei breathed a sigh of relief, happy to no longer be subjected to his son's dynamism. "Spirited young'un, wouldn'tcha say?"

"... Yeah."

Jūbei faced his wife, taking note of her expression. Her face was free from any tension, but the light in her eyes was muted. She seemed apathetic.

He turned to their son and back again. "Nine?"

She replied without looking at him, "Yes?"

"You okay?"

A perfunctory nod came along with her next response, "Mhm."

Even though she didn't show it, Jūbei clearly sensed that there was an issue being withheld by the woman. Carefully, he set a large paw down on her, "Do you... have regrets?"

The woman's gaze fell off her son as she gave some thought to her husband's query. There had been no plan, let alone any discussion regarding another child. Ever! It had been touch-and-go the first time 'round. Although hybrids weren't uncommon there was no absolute guarantee that they'd be able to conceive a child of their own, but in the end the couple were blessed with a daughter who they absolutely adored.

"Help meeeeeee!"

"Nyaaa~!"

Nine was very content with her life. She had a loving husband, an excellent daughter, an amazing sister, an irreplaceable best friend AND an outstanding career. The woman didn't need anything else. She didn't _want_ anything else. But as it so happened the pink-haired woman found herself pregnant once more, and was immediately thrown into a state of worry. Even so, after much deliberation she told Jūbei the 'good news', and the man couldn't be more happier; he was over the moon. He already viewed their first as a special gift they were lucky enough to have, and now he saw their second as another special gift. Jūbei was a happy dad, however Nine wasn't much of a happy mum. The ambivalence she'd previously felt betrayed the smiles and positivity she'd outwardly portray. She truly, _desperately_ wanted to be happy about having another kid, and believed some happy feeling would kick in during her second pregnancy eventually. Yet there were doubts. Nine was unsure if she would even remotely feel anything resembling what she had with Kokonoe; the joy of motherhood as if it were only the beginning, taking delight in the phases of babyhood, the tremendous love for one's own child, and, if possible, an even greater sense of fulfilment. She was hopeful... Tried to be, at least. However, when she'd finally given birth to him – when she'd first heard his heartbeat out in the open, heard him draw in breath for the very first time, mewl, and grab onto her finger... Nine had gotten her answer.

"None, Darling..." on command the muscles in her face moved, shifting her appearance to one extensively practised and committed to memory. Nine turned to Jūbei with a genuine mien, the tone of her voice convincing, and the fade in her eye reversed, now bright. At the same time, the woman's countenance belied what was truly felt deep inside.

"None whatsoever."

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**Fin**


End file.
